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Could these psychedelic drugs be making the trip to a B.C. doctor's office near you? (Dr. Evan Wood)

Posted on Tue, Sep 8, 2015 - 12:00am

A trip to the doctor’s office could someday mean a trip inside the doctor’s office, if researchers calling for further study into the use of psychedelics for treating illness get their way.

Dr. Evan Wood, co-director of the Urban Health Research Initiative at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, is one of four medical researchers behind an analysis published Tuesday focusing on the resurgence of research into psychedelic substances for treating illnesses, including addiction, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Wood said that while motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural therapy can lead to change in a patient, the use of psychedelics can bring about a “transformative spiritual experience” and a new level of insight where those traditional methods come up short.

I am writing to commend the Psychiatrist on-call whose compassion and extraordinary empathy helped to relieve my
extreme anxiety on that day.Please extend my heartfelt thanks to her for going above and beyond simply “taking a history”.”